Glazing for a rail vehicle

ABSTRACT

A glazing for a rail vehicle includes at least two panes which are mutually spaced apart and disposed one above the other. One pane is made of a safety glass and the other pane is made of a plastic. The two panes are connected to each other by elastic spacers.

The invention relates to a glazing for a rail vehicle, said glazinghaving at least two panes which are spaced at a distance from oneanother and arranged above one another.

Glazing for rail vehicles in various embodiments is known in the stateof the art. Depending on a requirements profile applicable in each case,toughened safety glass, laminated safety glass, pressure-tight,sound-insulated or double-glazed systems are used. Double glazing hasprevailed in particular for high-speed vehicles. Here, the two panesused are made in each case of laminated safety glass, with either air ora gas, which improves the insulating-glass properties of this glazing,being situated between the individual panes.

On account of the multiplicity of requirements which have to be met inrelation to acoustic and thermal properties and also required strength,such glazing is comparatively heavy. Moreover, even when using laminatedsafety glass, there is a considerable risk that windows may be destroyedby vandalism.

Indeed, in the state of the art plastic glazing, which is typicallypresent in the form of a single pane, is also known. Such glazing is,however, considered to be problematic with a view to differentcoefficients of thermal expansion between plastic and body shell,fire-retardant properties, service life on account of UV radiation, andexposure to sand. Reservations arise also with a view to permissiblebending of plastic glazing during operational use.

Proceeding from here, the invention is based on the object of furtherdeveloping the glazing mentioned at the outset, such that lighter andmore crash-resistant windows are achieved for rail vehicles.

This object is achieved in that the one pane of the glazing is made of asafety glass and the other pane is made of a plastic, the two panesbeing connected to one another by elastic spacers. Here, typically thepane made of safety glass is used on an inner side of a rail vehicleequipped with the glazing, whereas the pane made of plastic is on theoutside. On account of this configuration of the glazing with one glasspane and one plastic pane, a reduced weight of the glazing results. Thepane made of safety glass, which typically is on the inside, offers arequired scratch resistance in the case of the impact of vandalism,whereas the outer pane in a weight-saving manner consists of plastic.

The one pane of the glazing may be made of, for example, a toughenedsafety glass or a laminated safety glass. The other pane, whichtypically will be present on the outside of the vehicle, is made from athermoplastic molding composition. Examples of materials are acrylicglass or Makrolon®.

The plastic pane may, on its side facing toward the outside, be providedwith a scratch-resistant layer in order to bring about a resistance tovandalism also here.

The elastic spacers make it possible to take account of the differingcoefficients of thermal expansion of the materials from which the atleast two panes are made. The spacers are preferably made of athermoplastic resin.

Overall, weight advantages result for the glazing in comparison to thestate of the art, since the density of plastic is significantly lower incomparison to glass. Since plastics have a significantly higher tenacitythan glass, which rather displays a brittle behavior, the risk ofdestruction is lower.

The altogether increased resistance of the glazing against vandalismenables a higher operational availability of the rail vehicles equippedwith the glazing.

By way of example, an exemplary embodiment is described in more detailby means of the drawing. The only FIGURE shows a portion of a glazingfor installation in a rail vehicle in a cross-sectional view.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in the FIGURE, an inner side ofa glazing, in relation to a rail vehicle, is formed by a laminated glasspane V, which itself is constructed from two individual panes V1, V2which are arranged at a distance from one another.

An outer side of the glazing is made of a plastic pane K which is, forexample, made of Makrolon® or acrylic glass. The plastic pane K ispositioned in relation to the laminated glass pane V by a spacer A. Thespacer A is made of an elastic material, typically a thermoplasticresin, such that it can compensate differing thermal expansions of theplastic pane K and the laminated glass pane V.

In exemplary embodiments which are not illustrated by drawings, theplastic pane K may also be provided with a scratch-resistant layer onits outer side. It is likewise possible for the inner pane of glass tobe made of a toughened safety glass. Spacers which are of the same typeas the spacer A are situated all the way around the window. The spacebetween the plastic pane K and the laminated glass pane V may be filledwith air or another gas.

1-7. (canceled)
 8. A glazing for a rail vehicle, the glazing comprising:at least two panes spaced at a distance from one another and disposed ontop of one another; one of said panes being made of a safety glass andanother of said panes being made of a plastic; and elastic spacersinterconnecting said at least two panes.
 9. The glazing according toclaim 8, wherein said safety glass of said one pane is a toughened orsingle-thickness safety glass.
 10. The glazing according to claim 8,wherein said safety glass of said one pane is a laminated safety glass.11. The glazing according to claim 8, wherein said plastic of said otherpane is a thermoplastic molding composition.
 12. The glazing accordingto claim 8, wherein said plastic of said other pane is acrylic glass.13. The glazing according to claim 8, which further comprises anoutside, an inside, and a scratch-resistant layer disposed on a side ofsaid other pane facing toward said outside.
 14. The glazing according toclaim 8, wherein said elastic spacers are made of a thermoplastic resinhaving a composition compensating for differing thermal expansions ofsaid at least two panes.